Tanning process



NITED STATES JAMES THOMAS RHYNE, OF DURANT, MISSISSIPPI, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND \VILLIAM CALVIN RED, OF SAIWIE PLACE, AND JOSEPH PETERS, OF

FORT SCOTT, KANSAS.

TANNlNG PROCESS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 351,204, dated OotoberlQ, 1886.

Application filed May 5, 1886. Serial No. 201,221.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be itknown that I, J anns THmL-is RHYNE, of Durant, in the county of Holmes and State of Mississippi, haveinvent-ed a new and useful Improvement in Tanning and Staffing Leather, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention is designed as an improvement upon the process as described in Letters 1 Patent No. 128,246, for compounds used in treating the leather, granted to Joseph Peters June 25, 1872; but it differs in the proportions of the ingredients up to the period when the leather or hide is taken from the vats, and is especially different in the finishing of the leather-that is, in the whole treatment of it after removal of the leather or hide from the vats.

The invention is not only applicable to the tanning, &c., of hides for making leather of a superior quality for different purposes in less time, &c., but it may also be used to advantage by farmers and others in the tanning of hides, furs, and skins of many kinds without having resort to expensive or special appliances, as it can be mainly done in barrels or hogsheads. It will suffice here, however, to describe the invention as used for tanning and finishing or stufling leather, and among the advantages secured may be named the following:

0 In the first place, by my improved process, substantially as hereinafter described, the tanning can be successfully carried on in all countries or places, inasmuch as no bark is required; and in countries or places where bark 5 is not a natural product it is expensive to import said inateriahbesides which bark-tanning requires more time. In the next place, less labor is required to handle and work thesame amount of hides or leather. Again, all grades 0 or kinds of leather can be made or tanned, including firm and good sole-lcather; also superior harness, shoe,glove, and belting leathers and lacing, or what is commonly known as "whang-leather, saddle-skirtings, and in fact 5 all kinds and qualities whatever, as well as furs. The apparatus used is or may be the same as that used in ordinary tanning and stuffing operations. Consequently there is no necessity here either to show or describe it in detail.

(No specimensil The invention consists in certain treatments of the hide or skin and in the use of certain hot mixtures or compounds to the grain and flesh sides of the hide, essentially as hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claim.

The following description will explain in full how my invention is carried into practice.

I first soak the hide in clear water until it is soft enough to shave off the glaze or flinty flesh with a light-edged currying-knife. This preliminary treatment is important, and results in a large saving of mechanical labor and quickens the softening, liming, and tanning parts of the process. The hide after being thus shaved is then thrown back into the pool or receptacle of clear water, where it is allowed to remain about ten (10) or twelve (12) hours, more or lessthat is, long enough to perfectly soften the hide, which result is expedited by the currying operation above named. The hide is then taken out of the clear Water a second time and thrown onto the ordinary or any suitable breakingbcain, flesh side up, and run over with a fleshing-knife. This completes the hide ready for liming, as usual in tanning, the formula Iprefer to adopt being about one (I) bushel of slakcd lime to fifty (50) gallons of soft water; but other proportions may be used as the strength of the preparation is recruited by the addition from time to time of more lime. After this, the hide is rinsed by throwing it a third time into the pool or receptacle of clear water, and then taken to a smooth flat table and with a steel sleek the hair worked off, which is much more expeditiously done than on a fies hingbea-m. The hide thus prepared is again rinsed off in any suitable vessel and again thrown into a pool or body of clean soft water, and raised once a day, or thereabout, 0 until bated low enough to work the lime out. This can be ascertained by pinching up the grain between. the thumb and forefinger. After this the hide is taken back to the scouring-table and sleeked off on the flesh side and 5 turned over and stoned until the lime is thoroughly expressed, and subsequently rinsed in clear water, when it is ready for immersion in the tanning-liquor.

The tanning-liquor is prepared as follows:

through, then the hides are thrown up in pile to drain, and afterward beamed, or in lieu thereof passed through the press-rollers, well on flesh side, which hastens the tanning. They are then thrown back into the tanning-liquor, and the process of beaming, if necessary, repeated to hasten the tanning. After .the tan has thoroughly struck through, the hides are removed from the tanning-liquor.

The next proceeding is to immerse the hides .in lye, instead of brushing them with lye, as

in Peters process, and to use a lye of the following strength, viz: the contents of one box, equal to about one (1) pound of concentrated lye, dissolved in twenty (20) gallons (more or less) of soft, clean water, allowing the hides to remain from thirty to sixty minutes. This serves to thoroughly neutralize the acids. Each hide is then thrown into clean soft water and. permitted to remain from twenty toforty hours, according to the thickness of the hide.

This soaks out the remaining particles of the tanning chemicals, which, if not removed, would attack and injure the leather and impair its durability. Upon removing the hide from the clear water it is placed on a table, with its flesh side up, and sleeked and brushed to remove all remaining ooze. The grain side of the hide is treated by stoning and brushing, frequently pouring on clean. water during this operation to prevent the leather from staining. The hide is then hung in the shade until it ceases to drip, after which tanning-oil, boiling hot, is poured on the grain side and brushed in thoroughly. This method of applying the oil preserves the leather, causes it to penetrate more perfectly, and makes the leather more pliant,

After ten or twelve hours of the above treatment, I apply to the flesh side of the hide a boiling hot mixture composed of one (1) part tar, one (1) part tallow, and two (2) parts of tanners oil, brushing the same in thoroughly. After which the hide is hung up in the shade to dry. This treatment causes the tar and tallow to fill up the pores, rendering the leather water-proof.

In these last two steps it should be observed that the mixtures applied to the grain and flesh sides are used boiling hot, instead of applying the oil and dubbing, as heretofore, in acold state. By applying the mixtures hot they are driven into the pores of the leather, thus solidifying the leather and rendering it impervious to water. By applying the mixture to the grain side hot, too, it is only nec- 7 essary to wait ten or twelve hours before applying the mixture to the flesh side, instead of having to wait-four or five days as when the treatment is a cold one, and nolye, whieh rots the leather, is used in these two treatments with the hot-mixtures.

After the leather has been thus prepared all surface grease is washed off with common bar soap and the surface blackened with ink, as in what is known as oak-tanning leatherthat is, thus treated on the grain sidewhen the leather is to be used for harness purposes, or

is required to be blackened on the grain side.

Other leather to be blackened on the flesh side is differently treated.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent My improvement in tanning and finishing hides, which consists in the following steps,

to wit: first, soaking the hide in clear water; second, removing all gristly or flinty flesh; third, again soaking the hide in fresh water; fourth, beaming and liming; fifth, again soaking in fresh water; sixth, unhairing on a smooth fiat table with a steel sleek; seventh, removing lime by thoroughly soaking in water and stoning; eighth, tanning with a mixture composed of water, gambier, salt, sulph uric acid, and saltpeter; ninth, beaming by hand or passing through pressure-rollers; tenth, immersing thoroughly in lye-water and using a light-edge currying-knife on flesh side and again placing in fresh water; eleventh, taking out the hides and hanging in the shade until dry, and treating to boiling-hot tanners oil (fish-oil and beeswax) on grain side, and applying to the flesh side a boiling mixture of tar, tallow, and tanners oil, (fish-oil and beeswax) and finally coloring in the usual manner, substantially as above stated.

JAMES THOMAS RHYN E. .Witn esses:

D. S. SHLENKER, J. M. DYER. 

